Piston ring



April 6, 1926.

- H. MILLER PISTON RING Filed July 11, 1923 gnmntoz Patented Vpr. 6,1926!.

ZiIAnBYiIIALLEitf ST. LoUrs, MrssoUn1g Ton zi-Zilliohom itrriajfconcem:l. Be it known that I, HARRYMILLER, a citizen of the United States,residing at St.

Y to provide means under the control of an operator, whereby the ringmay be expanded from the 'end of the piston, without withdrawing thepiston from'the cylinder.

It is within the province of the disclosure to improve generally and toenhance the utility of devices of that type to which the Y inventionappertains. A

With the above and other objects v1n viewy which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that, within f the scope ofwhat is claimed, changes in the precise embodiment of the inventionlshown can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings Y f Figure 1 shows in transverse section,the piston Vof an internal combustion engine, wherewith, the deviceforming the subject matter of this application has been assembled;Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2' of Figure 1, the line 1-1 inFigure 2 denoting the cutting plane on which Figure 1 is taken; Figure 3is a section taken through the ring on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

In carrying out the invention, there is provided a piston lring 1 havingan outer surface 2 and an inner surface 3, the surfaces being disposedparallel to each other. The ring 1 has end surfaces 4 and 5 which` aredisposed parallel to each other and at right angles to the surfaces 2and 3. The outer surface 2 is of much greater area than the innersurface 3, and the ends'urface 5 is of much greater area than the endsurface 4. The ring 1 tween the inner edges; of the end surface 4 hasinclined faces 6 extended be-v `Applicationfiileamnyui,i923. serialNafesogi: .11 ..1

and a..asturias-aaaassetati at ring. At any desired numberof circum-Vferentially spaced points, the ring 1 has inwardly projectingreinforcing and'sustaining lugs 25. i

The numeral 7 denotes a piston including a side wall424 and a head 23. Acircumferential grooveA 8 is formed in the wall 24,

and therein the ring 1 is mounted, the small end surface 4 of the ringbeing disposed adjacent to the head 23'of the piston, which receivesthev compression, the inclined surface 6 of the lring cooperating withtwo walls of .acute angle tothe outer surface 2 of V:the f eol the`groove 8 to define an annular chamber 10, into which thecompressed gasis adapted v to kenter,therebyy to work an automatic expansion of thering 1 and to-cause the ring to cooperate with the wall of the cylinderwherein the piston 7 reciprocates, even though the internal crosssection of the cylinder be other than a true circle. The ends of thering 1 may be halved together, as indicatedat-11, orbeoverlapped inanyother 4suitable way.

A means is provided whereby, at the will of an operator, the ring may beexpanded v from the compression chamber of the cylinder, itrbeing-unnecessary to remove the piston from the cylinder in order to effectan expansion of the ring. Havin this consideration in mind, adjustingdevices 12 yare v Y mounted inthe piston and operate in recesses 14fashioned in the edge of lthe head 23, the adjusting devices being inthe form of screws, if desired, threaded into the piston and en-v teringthe annular chamber 10, thev inner ends of the screws bearing on the,Yinclined surfaces 6 of the piston ring, the screws being held inadjusted positions byk means of f lock nuts 15, which, being vthreaded.upon vthe screws, bear on the piston at the bases of the recesses 14.By rotating the screws 12, the ring 1, obviously, may be forced out#wardly so as to cooperate with the wall of the cylinder. Y

I claim: 1 v

1. In a device of the class described, a piston, a ring thereabout, andmembers for expanding the ring, said members being mounted in the pistonat an anglev to the axis of the piston and being accessible from thatend'of the piston which receives the'compression, the ring havinganinclined surface, and the disposition of said members at an angle tothe axis of the piston permitting ics said members'to engage `theinclined surface of the ring' at such an angle that said members expandthe ring by thrust, rather than by Wedging action. Y.

2. In a device of the class described, a piston, a ring thereabout, andscrews threaded into the piston and disposed acutely with respect to theaxis of the piston, the screws cooperating With the ring to expand it.

structed aslset forth in claim 2 and further characterized by lock nutson the screw, and engagingithe piston, the piston having recesses for'the reception of the nuts and the outer portions of the Screws.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as niyown, `I have :heretoaffixed my signature.

HARRY MILLER.

@.A device of the classdescribed, con-

